Kick-Ass Banana Birthday Cake!!

Look how happy this vegan cake made him!!!
So Friday marked the 26 anniversary of the birth of the most amazing man in my life! And the way I see it, there’s no better way to celebrate something like that than eating delicious foods! Now, I know some of you were followers of my old baking blog, and I know I haven’t really updated as many of my treats as I wanted to by now (the whole “losing weight” thing makes it hard to have baked goods in the house too often!) but I took one of Julian’s favorite cake recipes of mine, and worked my magic in turning it vegan. To my surprise (to his, also!), the cake turned out BETTER than my non-vegan original recipe! Not only was this probably the easiest cake I’ve ever made, but it was so delicious. I didn’t tell his parents that it was vegan until the end, and they honestly couldn’t believe it one bit. It was so moist and literally melted in your mouth. It was also my first time experimenting with Tofutti vegan cream cheese (I’ve used their sour cream product before) and I must say, it made an excellent base for the cream cheese frosting! So, if you have a birthday to plan, or if you just feel like baking something sweet, delicious, and cruelty-free, I give you:

Go Bananas! Vegan Banana Birthday Cake

•2 cups flour (I use whole grain, but use whatever you care to)
•1 1/2 tsp baking soda
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 cup sugar of your choice (I use Sugar in the Raw)
•1/4 cup oil
•4 ripe bananas, mashed
•1/4 cup water
•1 tsp vanilla
2 tblsp cinnamon

Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and sugar.
Put water, bananas, vanilla, and oil into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour in bowl with dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

And for my new take on Amazing Cream Cheese Frosting:
•1/4 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread, softened
•1/4 cup Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese, softened
•2 cups vegan confectioner’s sugar, sifted
•1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Makes enough to frost one cake.

Yummmmmmmm.....


I promise you, this is so simple you’ll be amazed! And, you’ll want to make this every day…it’s just that good! And honestly, look at those ingredients…it’s not even *that* bad for you!! Make it without the frosting, and it’s still super delicious and even more on the healthy side. I really hope/know you’ll all enjoy this so much!


I dare you to only have once slice!

Vegan Doughnuts...Oh...My...God!!!!

Doughnuts. Quite possibly one of the worst/greatest things to ever happen to America. On one hand, they’re deep-fried sugar that thicken waistlines and clog arteries with every sweet bite. On the other hand, they’re just so damn good! Now, up until this weekend, the last time I had a doughnut was almost two years ago, so I am pretty sure that having a couple this weekend was okay. And my goodness were they ever tasty!!

My amazing cousin Candi sent me a package of delicious VEGAN doughnuts from halfway across the country for my birthday! They were from this amazing place in Portland, Oregon called Voodoo Doughnuts, and I highly suggest stopping in if you are ever in the PDX area! Vegan or not, they have quite the array of doughnuts on their menu, and the overall vibe seems pretty badass! And unlike the few places I have seen that offer vegan doughnuts that usually have only one type, and aren’t very good, this place definitely delivers! My package had nine vacuum-sealed doughnuts in it (excellent shipping work, Candi!), and picking which one to eat first was HARD! I ended up going with a cinnamon-sugar doughnut, which was soft, moist, and super sweet! After that, I ate half of a coconut one, and had to stop myself right then and there, otherwise I knew I’d eat all of them! The next day, I allowed myself a chocolate one covered in crushed peanuts…and I absolutely could not believe that the frosting and everything is vegan!!

I can't believe it's vegan!!!

I have since placed the rest of the sinful little buggers in the freezer, and they will be my “milestone” treats on my trek to lose weight…cuz we all need rewards every once an d a while! I will not eat another one until I’m down 15 more pounds, but the way that my new Wii Game is kicking my ass, that might be sooner rather than later!

But seriously folks, you gotta stop by this freaking rad doughnut shop in Portland…the amount of vegan goodies they have is enough to make any veg-head fall to their knees in sweet heaven!!

I'm a Big Loser...weight, that is!!

So I haven’t really been updating this week. Quite frankly, after the birthday celebrating and all that, I needed to get my body back to a more neutral place. Very basic foods this week…green salads, lots of plain brown rice and quinoa and beans. Nothing to really write home about, but I know my body needed some help getting back to a neutral state. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about a new program I have started that can really rock your ass off that couch cushion!!

For my birthday, my amazing man got me the Biggest Loser game for our Wii Fit. I have wanted this game for a while, since I have heard that it is pretty killer. Not only that, but the two trainers (Jillian and Bob) are super hot, super inspiring, and one of them is even a veg-head!! Yes, Bob Harper has to promote “Jennie-O Turkey” and “Milk” on the tv show, but these things were written into his contract before he became vegan a few years ago. It’s unfortunate, but if you follow his Twitter and Blogs, he explains the situation he’s bound to. But regardless…if people think that vegans are just skeletons walking around with skin stretched around their frames from lack of nutrients, all they have to do is look at his amazingly hot body, to realize that yes, vegans can be buff, too!!


So, I got home from work yesterday and set the game up. You build a program for yourself and it helps you in setting realistic and attainable goals, and then gives you the tools to achieve those. Then, you start your first workout with Bob and Jillian. Let me just say, that I was pouring sweat, and we were not even done with the 6-minute warm-up yet! I knew I was in for some trouble at that point! Well, the circuit kicked my ass (although I did start at intermediate instead of beginner), and as soon as I was about to collapse on the floor in a puddle of my own sweat, Evil Jillian tells me that we’re doing the circuit…AGAIN!!! Awww hell no! I honestly didn’t think I could do it, and I was shocked that a video game was really pushing me this hard, but it was! And incredibly enough, I was able to get through the circuit the second time around! I knew I was going to be sore, so I ended with one of the cool-down options, which was 18 minutes of “light” yoga, which was really quite refreshing after the drills I had just been through. Needless to say, I’m feeling every single squat and every single speed-punch today, that’s for damn sure!! And yet, I’m super excited to do it again tonight! Call me fuckin’ nuts, but I actually want to impress my little virtual Bob and Jillian! Hahaha…okay, yeah, that does sound pretty nuts, but it’s true! It’s like I don’t want to let them down!

America's Hottest Trainers...ooooowww!!!

But seriously, if you are looking for a good workout, and want to support a fellow veg-head (and I’ve heard rumors that Bob is beginning to pull Jillian to the “plant side”…let’s hope!), then definitely buy this workout game! I KNOW for certain that if I do this at least 5 times a week, then I’m going to be seeing a different silhouette pretty soon!!

Beans and Birthday Cake!!

Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Meeee, Happy Birthday to Me!!

Okay, I had to do it! I’ve been feeling the love all day, so I had to give a little to myself! Yes, today is my birthday. I am trying not to celebrate my birthday so much as I am trying to celebrate the One Year Anniversary of my 25th Birthday, so I’m going to leave it at that!

Anyway, I’ve got an amazing recipe that I threw together yesterday that is probably now one of my most favorite meals! The best part…it’s probably also the EASIEST meal I have ever put together! Seriously, I threw it all in the crock pot before work, and when I came home I had some seriously delicious food waiting for me! If you like spice, and if you like good ole’ Creole food, than you’ll love these…


Spicy Red Beans and Rice with “Bacon”

2 cups of red beans, soaked overnight
4.5 cups of V8 plain vegetable juice
1.5 cups water
½ pack of Lighlife vegan bacon, torn into small chunks
2 cups of brown rice
3 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
3 Tablespoons of Onion Powder
5 Tablespoons of Crushed Red Pepper (or less if you don’t like it spicy)

Combine rinsed beans, V8, water, garlic powder, onion powder and crushed red pepper in the crock pot. Set on “low” setting and let cook 6-8 hours.
When there is about 30 minutes remaining, mix in your veggie bacon.

Cook rice accordingly at this time as well (I use a rice cooker, but if you use the stovetop, cook according to directions).


Can you believe how simple this is?! Seriously, you don’t have to do ANYTHING and it is absolutely delicious!!! I couldn’t get enough of this, and this makes a very large portion as well, which is great, because I can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch today!

So there you have it. The world’s easiest and tastiest vegan recipe for red beans and rice! Although I felt kind of guilty just posting that, especially with it being my birthday and all! This is the first year in a long time that I didn’t bake myself a cake, but I just didn’t seem to have the time. But I couldn’t be without something sweet last night, so I hit up the local grocery store to see what kind of goodies they had. And this is what I came up with:

Super Delicious Chocolate Strawberry Marshmallow Creme Birthday Cake

Basically, its Amy’s Organic Chocolate Cake, which is found in the frozen food section (it is seriously the most moist, rich and delicious cake I’ve ever had!), some vegan marshmallow crème (found in the organic section of my grocer), and some strawberries! Pop it in the toaster oven for a few minutes and experience pure *vegan* heaven!!

(I apologize for the poor photo quality. I have misplaced my camera so these pics were taken on my phone.)